No amount of global protest will make China remove anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles reportedly installed on the three islands it reclaimed in the South China Sea. Assuming President-for-life Xi Jinping approved deployment, it would be a huge climbdown before the world if he orders them out. That would weaken him in front of 1.38 billion Chinese, and potentially destabilize the country. No way. And if Xi didn’t actually allow the missiles to be installed or know about them, then we may have a bigger problem: rogue elements of the People’s Liberation Army making major, regionally destabilizing decisions outside Beijing’s control.

Saludo, R. (2018, May 8). If China deploys missiles so should we. The Manila Times, pp. A1, A5.